Vintage Winnetka mansion with 8 fireplaces sells for $3.76 million

Cook County Assessor

Built in 1922, the three-story mansion, which originally was known as Wynwyd, was designed by architect Reginald Davis Johnson and later was owned by members of the Nuveen family.

Built in 1922, the three-story mansion, which originally was known as Wynwyd, was designed by architect Reginald Davis Johnson and later was owned by members of the Nuveen family. (Cook County Assessor)

More than two years after its owners’ controversial and ultimately unsuccessful bid to subdivide the property, a vintage, six-bedroom, 15,519-square-foot mansion on 1.96 acres adjacent to the Indian Hill Country Club in Winnetka, sold last month for $3.76 million.

Built in 1922, the three-story mansion, which originally was known as Wynwyd, was designed by architect Reginald Davis Johnson and later was owned by members of the Nuveen family. Daniel and Debra Gill bought the property in 1999 from the Nuveen family for $2.525 million and built two additions to the mansion, including a new breakfast room, a family room and a screened porch. They also added a pool and pool house and remodeled the existing gardener’s house on the property.

The mansion has 8 1/2 baths, eight fireplaces, a de Giulio kitchen, a screened porch with a fireplace, a 1,500-bottle wine cellar, a paneled adult library, a children’s library, a game room in the basement, a home gym with a weight room and an indoor lap pool, an indoor basketball court and a six-car garage. Outside are bluestone terraces, formal gardens, an outdoor pool and pool house, and a gardener’s house.

The Gills first listed the mansion in 2012 for $7.999 million. They reduced their asking price to $7.25 million in 2013 and then to $6.899 million in 2014. Later in 2014, they slashed their asking price to $5.999 million, followed by further price cuts to $5.695 million in 2015 and to $4.995 million in 2016.

In March, the Gills reduced their asking price to $4.595 million and then cut the price further to $4.295 million the following month.

Public records show that the buyer of the mansion was a land trust whose beneficiary could not yet be determined.

“It was a magnificent house and a spectacular property, and my clients absolutely loved it, and I know that the family who bought it will too,” listing agent Joanne Hudson told Elite Street.

For her part, seller Debra Gill, who in 2013 paid $4.65 million for a lakefront home in Kenilworth, told Elite Street that the Winnetka home “is going to a nice young family, so I’m thrilled.”

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